Building A Better Zombie Game

It's an obvious analogy: Like the undead enemies they
contain, zombie-themed video games and DLC simply won't die. Zombies have
invaded military
shooters, westerns,
racing
games, and even your
lawn. Considering how many games I play for my job, you'd probably think
that I'd be tired of titles that have legions of the undead in them. You'd be
wrong. I hope even more zombie games come out in 2011, because as I see it, the
industry's current offerings are missing some characteristics that are key to the
genre.

Grim Exploration:
The Left 4 Dead series has set the standard for undead shooters, but its epic
set pieces feel more in line with Modern Warfare than a zombie Armageddon. As a
fan of open-world games, I would love to see a GTA-style zombie game (Red
Dead's newest DLC pack obviously fits the bill, but I'd still like to see
something in an urban setting). Dead Rising offers an open world to explore,
but its light-hearted nature doesn't make traveling around town very
challenging. Exploring a post-apocalyptic city in a video game should be like
it is in the movies, where even traveling down the street to a gas station for
supplies is a life-threatening proposition. Fallout 3 is probably the closest
comparison; exploring its deadly wastelands is a major part of the fun. Perhaps
an Assassin's Creed approach would be entertaining, where the player is
presented with a giant open city packed with zombies, and traveling between
rooftops could offer some mild safety.

Beware The Bite:
Zombie bites are supposed to be deadly. But for some reason video game zombies
just gum you like some old geezer that has lost his dentures. How lame would 28 Days Later have been if the
protagonist could get bit by a dozen undead corpses, then slap on a bandage and
have everything go back to normal? The zombies we fight in video games are
essentially melee enemies with incredibly stupid AI. For a game to capture the
terror of a zombie outbreak, there has to be a real consequence to getting bit,
and that consequence should be death. Instead of giving players the ability to
miraculously heal their wounds, employ multiple protagonists and a branching
story. When a character gets bit, they die and that branch of the story simply
closes.

Actually Undead:
People who get killed by zombies turn into zombies. This is what separates
getting attacked by a zombie from getting attacked by a dirty hobo. As such,
characters who get bitten in video games - be it NPCs, co-op partners, or even
your character - should turn into zombies. Resident Evil Outbreak toyed with
this concept, but in most games your allies are still impervious to infection. Rescuing
innocents would be a lot scarier if those characters were capable of dying, and
a game like Left 4 Dead would be even more suspenseful if, after being bitten,
you had to watch your partners for signs that they're becoming a zombie. Also,
stick to zombie lore and require headshots, decapitation, or explosions to
finish off your undead enemies.

Spreading Infection:
Plenty of games have nailed a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, but part of what
makes zombie films like Dawn of the Dead
so entertaining is the actual apocalypse, i.e. when the chaos first erupts and
civilization goes to crap. Games like Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising always start
after 99% of the population has been transformed into shuffling corpses. How
about letting us play through those tense first hours as the disease spreads
across the city? An open-world game could even do it in real-time - think of GTA
San Andreas' gang system, only with zombies. Not only would it be cool to see
and combat zombie outbreaks as they pop up through the city, but a random
system would also add a lot of replay value.

Braaaaiiiiiinnnnnssss:
The undead are supposed to want to eat your brain, but with how underused it is
in most zombie games, we doubt it would be very tasty. I'd love to play a
zombie game that's based more on strategy than action. The Resident Evil series
has managed to do this with slower pacing and resource management, but the
games are still linear and sport bizarre storylines. An open world environment would
present plenty of opportunities for strategy. Scavenging for precious resources
would require figuring out viable routes to target areas and formulating exit
strategies, and the player could create safe houses by fortifying empty
buildings (with said resources). The addition of a day/night cycle could add a
sense of urgency to all of your actions (since zombies would be deadlier at
night, 'natch) - anyone who has ever rushed back to their home with a sack full
of resources in Minecraft knows how terrifying nightfall can be when your life
is truly on the line. Finally, multiple protagonists could provide different
skill sets, which would require the player to choose which characters to guard
at all costs, and which to gamble during dangerous situations. Don't get me
wrong - I still want a game where I can blast the crap out of zombies. I just
don't want that to be the only thing I can do.

Do you have any other gameplay elements you would like to
see in a zombie game? Share your thoughts in the comments below.